Great Bay Estuary water quality discussed

Friday

Jan 11, 2013 at 3:15 AMJan 11, 2013 at 10:33 AM

By Michelle Kingstonmkingston@fosters.com

DOVER — State Sen. David H. Watters, D-Dover, intends to file legislation requiring the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services to conduct a formal rule-making process on the 2009 numeric nutrient criteria for the Great Bay Estuary and has also asked for an additional monitoring station to analyze its water.

LSR #958, which Watters will file, also directs the NHDES to perform an independent peer review.

“This is just one opportunity with the legislative process to make sure that the DES is listening to the coalition communities and making sure the science is looked over very carefully,” Watters said.

The bill will be filed in response to a lawsuit filed by the Great Bay Municipal Coalition communities of Newmarket, Exeter, Portsmouth, Dover and Rochester and the permits issued by the Environmental Protection Agency to lower the nitrogen levels in the Great Bay from their current 15-20 mg/L levels to 3 mg/L. This required limit will cost these communities millions of dollars worth of upgrades to their wastewater treatment plants. The Coalition is asking the EPA to issue permits capping nitrogen at 8 mg/L, a level they believe, and have had engineers prove, is more attainable.

Since the lawsuit, stating the NHDES failed to conduct a formal rulemaking process required under the federal Clean Water Act, Newmarket and Exeter have received their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits.

Exeter has not decided if they will accept the permit yet, while Newmarket has agreed to meet the EPA's recommended nitrogen discharge limits.

“We do not agree that EPA and (the Department of Environmental Services) have addressed all of the uncertainties about the health of Great Bay,” a public statement released by Newmarket officials last month said. “However, we feel that it is in the best interest of our community to work with the EPA to protect Great Bay instead of entering into a lengthy and costly legal process.”

Since Newmarket will accept the permit, state Rep. Adam Schroadter, R-Newmarket, who had made a similar bill to Watters', decided to forgo filing his piece of legislation. He met with Watters on Wednesday, where he announced his decision.

According to Watters, Schroadter sensed that since Newmarket, his town, had agreed to the nitrogen discharge permit, it might be a “little awkward” for him to file the bill.

“I can't speak for Schroadter,” Watters said, “But it seemed to be a better strategy to go through the Senate. He might co-sponsor, but he has to sign off on that.”

Watters is hopeful that the bill will pass, but in the meantime, he said there are officials willing to discuss the issue.

“I think there are opportunities for on going conversation. I spoke with folks at DES who are very open to talking more over with the 2009 report,” he said. “I think this can be a vehicle for conversation and that may be one thing that will be helpful about it, whether it passes or not.”

Additionally, Watters has written to Gov. Maggie Hassan and the NHDES Commissioner Tom Burack requesting $200,000 be included in the state budget proposal for a monitoring station to be put in the Cocheco River.

“To my understanding, there is only one operating now in the Great Bay,” Watters said. “For the future, there needs to be more monitoring in different areas in the bay for better readings.”

Watters said for now, he will wait to hear back from Burack who will know whether the governor will include the station in her proposal in February.